Face Recipes

From cleansing balms to serums and everything inbetween.

Rose Witch Hazel Facial Toner

This sweetly fragrant, refreshing facial toner has become a fast favourite of mine. It smells deliciously of roses, features several soothing and lightly hydrating ingredients, and leaves my skin feeling revived and gently cleansed. It's also crazy easy to make (no...

Oil Cleansing Gel

When I was in Montreal last year I visited Coop Coco, a local DIY supplier, and poked around, looking for things I didn’t have that would fit in my suitcase. I ended up picking up a bottle of Sucragel, a cold-process emulsifier I’d never worked with before, brought it...

Frankincense Facial Lotion

This delightful lotion comes from a recipe request from Ashlie, who loves the Frankincense Intense line from Neal’s Yard Remedies. I love Neal’s Yard; their formulations are solid and their corporate ethos is both environmentally and socially responsible. I’ve visited...

Eucalyptus Mint Soft Cleansing Balm

This soft, squeezable cleansing balm is rich and creamy, melts into a stunning cleanser once you start working with it, and leaves your skin feeling refreshed and just a touch minty. I love it first thing in the morning to help me hit the ground running! Want to watch...

Lemon Rose Facial Lotion

This lightweight, hydration-packed facial lotion is one of my formulas from my Formula Botanica coursework, and it also happens to be the first recipe I'm sharing using hyaluronic acid! I tested this lotion through some of Calgary's driest winter months and found it...

Rose Micellar Water

I'm pretty excited to be able to share a micellar water recipe I'm happy with. I've been experimenting with micellar water formulas quite a lot over the last year and while the concept is simple enough in theory, it took quite a lot of fiddling and refining to create...

Eucalyptus Mint Cleansing Oil

This silky smooth Eucalyptus Mint Cleansing Oil is really quite lovely; freshly herbal and minty, with a touch of a cooling tingle that definitely helps perk one up first thing in the morning. I tried a new solubilizer and I really like it—the cleansing oil rinses off...

Raspberry Marula Facial Serum

I have so been enjoying using this silky Raspberry Marula Facial Serum. Not only is it a joy to use thanks to its lightweight consistency and luxurious slip, it also leaves my skin dewy and glowing. Oil serums were one of my first DIY/natural beauty loves, but it's...

Ginger Oak Moss Cleansing Balm Stick

I love this fragrant, creamy stick of cleansing goodness. I took the first version with my to New Zealand, where I spent much of my time on the road, camping somewhere new each night, and this stick was brilliant. I was so happy to have something I could use quickly...

Forest Facial Lotion

In the last week I've been on some utterly stunning hikes, really soaking up how beautiful Canada is and squeezing the last drops of good weather out of our waning summer. I love a lot of things about the mountains—their beauty, the solitude, the babbling brooks and...

Forest Cleansing Balm

I'm happy to report that Danny has been loving the Forest Facial Cleanser I made him (I'm loving it, too!), so I thought I'd extend the collection. And guys—this is the best cleansing balm I've ever made. It has the most amazing creamy consistency, beautiful rinse...

Coconut Clay Facial Cleanser

Last year, the first thing I ever made with Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) was a Gentle Foaming Clay Scrub that I really, really liked—I polished it off in a matter of weeks! For some reason or another I got to thinking about it again, and then I got to missing it,...

Gentle Calendula Cleansing Oil

Something about the string of hot summer days we've been having has been making me think about herbs. It's probably all the lush, overflowing gardens Lottie and I walk past on our walks, and the way the now-golden prairie grass ripples in the wind. It could also be...

Hydrating Rose Water Facial Toner

As I've been learning more and more about Asian beauty philosophies and trends, I've been really intrigued by the Asian-style toners /r/AsianBeauty raves about. Toners from Korea and Japan are focused on hydration and pH correction, packing a seriously nutrient-rich,...

Lime in the Coconut Facial Cleansing Oil

When was the last time you listened to the entirety of the Lime in the Coconut song? Technically it's "Coconut" by Harry Nilsson, first released in 1971, but to me it's just "the Lime in the Coconut" song. The song is definitely a bit ridiculous and the music video is...

Hydrating Summer Facial and Body Mist

I'm on a huge hydration kick these days. Well, not so much a kick as a lifestyle change. I'm making hydration a serious priority, and my skin is so much happier for it. While staying hydrated in Calgary is always a challenge, summer is a different kind of challenge:...

Green Tea Cleansing Oil

I might as well own up to it and declare my solemn love for cleansing oils. We have moved past the crush stage and into a stable, long-term relationship. I love how gentle (yet effective!) they are—they leave my skin feeling delightfully clean without feeling hardcore...

Solid Olive Primrose Facial Serum

This silky smooth, light-as-a-feather solid facial serum is really neat. It has all the satiny, lightweight loveliness of a liquid serum, but it's easier to transport (no leaks!), and application is even easier thanks to the elimination of the dropper bottle....

Green Tea Face Cream

Rich in antioxidants and all kinds of fresh and citrussy, this face cream is rather brilliant for summer. It's got a thick, almost balm-like consistency, but it spreads over the skin beautifully in a thin, fast-absorbing layer that you wouldn't typically expect from a...

Cleansing Mud Mousse

Have you ever stumbled across a for-sale skin care project that was so simple, yet so expensive, that it made you downright mad? That was my initial reaction to the product that inspired this DIY. $70 for mostly clay, some salt, some inexpensive herbs, and some spices...

Mint Julep Cleansing Oil

This creamy Mint Julep Cleansing Oil came about as a bit of an accident. I had "Julep oil cleanser" on my to-do list as a recipe request, and without referring back to the original request, I got all excited about an oil cleanser that smelled like a mint julep....

Grapefruit Deep Cleansing Oil

I've lost track of the number of requests for a cleansing oil I've received over the last little while. Danielle, Christine, and Shelley all sent some in, and then there's been a bunch in the comments on various posts and videos, so I figured I should pull this one...

Gentle Chamomile Facial Cleanser

I have fallen hard and fast for this Gentle Aloe Facial Cleanser. So much so that I made a video of it because I was using it up so rapidly that I needed more, so I figured I might as well film the making of batch #2. If you make anywhere close to as many things as I...

Rejuvenating Pine Pollen Facial Toner

This pretty yellow Rejuvenating Pine Pollen Facial Toner packs a punch for skin that needs a bit of a kick in the pants in the refreshing category. Rich in humectants and alpha hydroxy acids, this toner helps encourage your skin to regenerate and stay hydrated so your...

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